The
instant case comes before the court by way of a petition for
Drug Court expungement, filed by K.S.[1] ("defendant"),
under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14(m). The State filed opposition. On
March 31, 2017, oral argument was held on the matter. The
gravamen of the State's objection is that the petitioner
is currently barred under the "Drug Court"
Expungement Statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14(m)(1), which states in
pertinent part that a petitioner is not eligible for
expungement of his/her records under this subsection if the
person was "convicted of any crime, or adjudged a
disorderly person or petty disorderly person, during the term
of special probation." (Emphasis added).

HISTORY

Defendant's
criminal court history reveals five total offenses. None of
those convictions are non-expungable under N.J.S.A.
2C:35-14(m)(2). On January 7, 2013, defendant was sentenced
to two years of probation with credit for ten days of jail
time served for third degree eluding, in violation of
N.J.S.A. 2C:2 9-2(b). During probation, two violations of
probation ("VOP") were filed against defendant.
Thereafter, on April 8, 2014, defendant was resentenced to
three years of Passaic County Drug Court special
probation.[2]

Prior
to receiving his sentence to Drug Court, defendant was
charged with hindering apprehension, in violation of N.J.S.A.
2C:2 9-3(b), on May 16, 2013, in Roxbury Township. Defendant
was found guilty of that offense on November 13, 2014.

Additionally,
defendant was charged with fourth degree theft by unlawful
taking, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3(a), on February 6,
2014. On December 15, 2014, defendant was found guilty in
municipal court of said offense.

Thus,
prior to being admitted into special Drug Court probation,
the defendant was charged with two new offenses; however, he
was not "convicted" by way of pleading guilty to
and being sentenced until after he was placed on special Drug
Court probation. It should be further noted that during
defendant's Drug Court special probation, he did not
commit any new crimes. On October 13, 2016, defendant
successfully graduated and was discharged from Drug Court.
All parties agree that it would be highly unlikely that he
would be facing a violation of probation by virtue of
resolving the pending matters at the time he was placed into
probation. He has not been charged or convicted of any new
subsequent crimes after graduation. He does not have any
crimes on his criminal case history that would bar the
expungement, such as a robbery, etc.

STANDARD
OF REVIEW

When
engaging in statutory interpretation, the overriding goal is
to give effect to the Legislature's intent. State v.
D.A., 191 N.J. 158, 164 (2007). The bestindicator of
such intent is the plain statutory language selected by the
Legislature. Ibid, (citing State v. Perry,
439 N.J.Super. 514, 523 (App. Div. 2015)). The words shall be
ascribed their ordinary meaning and significance. See
DiProspero v. Penn, 183 N.J. 47 7, 4 92 (2005). In doing
so, the words should be read in context with the related
provisions to give sense to the legislation as a whole.
Ibid. If the language is clear and unambiguous, and
susceptible to only one interpretation, no further inquiry
should be made. Ibid. However, if there is ambiguity
in the language that could lead to more than one plausible
interpretation, courts may consider extrinsic evidence,
including legislative history, committee reports, and
contemporaneous construction. Id. at 4 92-93. Courts
"may not 'rewrite a statute or add language that the
Legislature omitted.'" See State v. Munafo,
222 N.J. 480 (2015) (citations omitted).

N.J.S.A.
2C:35-14(m) provides:

(1) The Superior Court may order the expungement of all
records and information relating to all prior arrests,
detentions, convictions, and proceedings for any offense
enumerated in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes upon
successful discharge from a term of special probation as
provided in this section, regardless of whether the person
was sentenced to special probation under this section,
section 2 of P.L. 2012, c.23 (C.2C:35-14.2) or
N.J.S. 2C:45-1, if the person satisfactorily
completed a substance abuse treatment program as ordered by
the court and was not convicted of any crime, or adjudged a
disorderly person or petty disorderly person, during the term
of special probation. The provisions of N.J.S.
2C:52-7 through N.J.S. 2C:52-14 shall not apply to
an expungement pursuant to this paragraph and no fee shall be
charged to a person eligible for relief pursuant to this
paragraph. The court shall grant the relief requested unless
it finds that the need for the availability of the records
outweighs the desirability of having the person freed from
any disabilities associated with their availability, or it
finds that the person is otherwise ineligible for expungement
pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection. An expungement
under this paragraph shall proceed in accordance with rules
and procedures developed by the Supreme Court.

(2) A person shall not be eligible for expungement under
paragraph (1) of this subsection if the records include a
conviction for any offense barred from expungement pursuant
to subsection b. or c. of N.J.S. 2C:52-2. It shall
be the obligation of the prosecutor to notify the court of
any disqualifying convictions or any other factors related to
public safety that should be considered ...

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